BMW extends factory vacation in China due to Coronavirus

BMW has followed suit with other car manufacturers and is putting safety first in light of the coronavirus outbreak in China. BMW employees there go on vacation annually to celebrate Chinese New Year. BMW decided to extend this vacation by one week as a precautionary measure. All three BMW Group plants in China will be closed until February 9. Another extension might be possible depending on the developments over the next few days.

Aside from this, BMW mandated that all employees with office workstations are required to work from home from the time being to reduce the risk of Coronavirus spreading and their employees being exposed during their travel time to the office.

This extension is applicable to around 18,000 employees of the three BMW plants around Shenyang, China. BMW Group takes all measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus even at the expense of a week’s worth of production. Naturally, this also comes with considerable costs and delays.